Part 12

=22. Stone masonry= is generally measured by the perch; in some sections of the United States, however, measurement by the cord is preferred, but the best method (as being invariable) is by the cubic yard. In estimating by the perch, it is necessary to state how much the perch is taken at, whether 24¾ or 25 cubic feet. Note should also be made in regard to corners and deduction for openings. In most localities it is not customary to deduct openings under a certain size, and corners are usually measured twice.

=23.= Rough stone from the quarry is generally sold under two classifications; namely, _rubble_ and _dimension stone_. =Rubble= consists of pieces of irregular size, such as are most easily obtained from the quarry, up to 12 inches in thickness by 24 inches in length. Stone ordered of a certain size, or to square over 24 inches each way and to be of a particular thickness, is called =dimension stone=.

Rubble masonry and stone backing are generally figured by the perch or cubic yard. Dimension-stone footings are measured by the square foot unless they are built of large, irregular stone, in which case they are measured the same as rubble. Ashlar work is always figured by the superficial foot; openings are usually deducted, and the jambs are measured in with the face work. Flagging and slabs of all kinds, such as hearths, treads for steps, etc., are measured by the square foot; sills, lintels, molding, belt courses, and cornices, by the linear foot; and irregular pieces, by the cubic foot. All carved work is done at an agreed price by the piece.

DATA ON RUBBLE MASONRY

=24.= The following proportions and cost of materials and amount of labor required to lay 1 perch of rubble masonry are reasonably accurate, and will serve to give an idea of how to estimate such work. A perch of rubble masonry requires, approximately, 2,500 pounds of stone.

COST OF RUBBLE MASONRY _Using 1-to-3 Lime Mortar_ 1 perch of stone (25 cubic ft.) delivered at work $1.25 1 bushel of lime .25 ⅙ cubic yard of sand, at $1.50 per cubic yard .25 ½ day, mason’s labor, at $3.20 per day 1.60 ¼ day, helper’s labor, at $2 per day .50 ----- Total $3.85

_Using 1-to-3 Portland-Cement Mortar_ 1 perch of stone $1.25 ¾ barrel of Portland cement, at $2 per barrel 1.50 ¼ cubic yard of sand, at $1.50 per cubic yard .38 ½ day, mason’s labor, at $3.20 per day 1.60 ¼ day, helper’s labor, at $2 per day .50 ----- Total $5.23

To the preceding amounts should be added the cost of scaffolding and the builder’s profit. If the walls are over two stories in height, 60 cents per perch extra for hoisting should be added.

DATA ON FLAGSTONES AND CURBING

=25. Flagstones= for sidewalks, ordinary stock, natural surface, 3 inches thick, with joints pitched to line, in lengths (along walk) from 3 to 5 feet, will cost, for a 3-foot walk, about 11 cents per square foot (if 2 inches thick, 10½ cents); for a 4-foot walk, 12 cents; and for a 5-foot walk, 16 cents. The cost of laying all sizes will average about 3 cents per square foot. These figures do not include cost of hauling.

Curbing, 4 in. × 24 in., granite, will cost from 40 to 50 cents per linear foot at the quarry; digging and setting will cost from 10 to 12 cents additional; and the cost of freight and hauling must also be added.

DATA ON ASHLAR AND CUT STONE

=26.= The following figures are average prices for =ashlar facing= when the transportation charges are not excessive, and are not given as fixed values, but more to show the relative costs. They include nothing but plain ashlar, and in estimating, the extra cost of sills, lintels, water-tables, belt courses, coping, etc. must be added. These prices are based on quarrymen’s wages of $2.50 per day, and stone-cutters’ wages of $4 per day.

Good rock-face bluestone ashlar, with from 6- to 10-inch beds, dressed about 3 inches from face, will cost, ready for laying, from 30 to 40 cents per square foot, face measure; while a higher grade of work will cost from 40 to 55 cents per square foot. Regular course bluestone ashlar, from 12 to 18 inches high and with from 8- to 12-inch beds, will cost about 50 cents per square foot. To this (and the previous figures) must be added the cost of hauling, which, on an average, will be about 3 cents per square foot.

To the preceding figures must also be added the cost of setting the ashlar. In estimating the cost of ashlar walls backed with brick, the wall is considered as solid brick, the cost of setting the ashlar being offset by the saving in cost of the brick and mortar and the labor resulting from making part of the thickness of the wall of stone. The cost of raking out the joints and pointing, which amounts to about 10 cents per square foot, must also be added.

=27.= The following figures show the approximate cost of cut bluestone for various uses:

Flagstone, 5-inch, size 8' × 10', edges and top bush-hammered, per sq. ft., face measure $ .75 Flagstone, 4-inch, size 5' × 5', select stock, edges clean cut, natural top, per sq. ft. .45 Door sills, 8" × 12", clean cut, per lin. ft. 1.35 Window sills, 5" × 12", clean cut, per lin. ft. .80 Window sills, 4" × 8", clean cut, per lin. ft. .45 Window sills, 5" × 8", clean cut, per lin. ft. .60 Lintels, 4" × 10", clean cut, per lin. ft. .65 Lintels, 8" × 12", clean cut, per lin. ft. 1.25 Steps, sawed stock, 7" × 14", per lin. ft. 1.10 Water-table, 8" × 12", clean cut, per lin. ft. 1.25 Coping, 4" × 21", clean cut, per lin. ft. 1.20 Coping, 4" × 21", rock-face edges and top, per lin. ft. .50 Coping, 3" × 15", rock-face edges and top, per lin. ft. .35 Coping, 3" × 18", rock-face edges and top, per lin. ft. .40 Platform, 6 inches thick, per sq. ft. .50

To the preceding prices of cut stone must be added the cost of setting, which for water-tables, steps, etc. will be about 10 cents per linear foot; and for window sills, etc., about 5 cents per linear foot. In addition, about 10 cents per cubic foot for fitting, and about 5 cents per cubic foot for trimming the joints after the pieces are set in place, should be allowed.

=28.= In a day of 8 hours, a stone cutter can cut about 4 square feet of granite, about 6 square feet of bluestone, or about 8 square feet of Ohio sandstone or limestone. These figures are for 6-cut, patent-hammered work. For rock-face ashlar (beds worked about 3 inches from face, the rest pitched), a workman can dress from 15 to 25 square feet of random ashlar per day; and from 18 to 20 square feet of coursed ashlar. In dressing laminated stone, from two to three times more work can be done in a day on the natural surface than on the edge of layers. In figuring cut stone, ample allowance should be made for waste, which, on an average, will be 15 per cent.

ADDITIONAL METHOD OF ESTIMATING ASHLAR

=29.= The following method of estimating the cost of cut stone is employed by many practical stone men. It is based on the fact that most ashlar walls have about the same number of sills, belt courses, lintels, water-tables, etc. in proportion to their volume, and therefore all the stonework, both the ashlar proper and the other cut stone, may be lumped together at one price per cubic foot. For estimating purposes, stone may be divided into two classes: _soft stone_, such as the sandstones, and _hard stone_, such as the granites.

=30. Soft Stone.=—Indiana limestone may be taken as an example of soft stone. In the Eastern Pennsylvania district, where the stone cutters’ wage rate is 50 cents per hour, the cost of this kind of stone is about as follows:

Rough blocks, per cubic foot $ .75 Sawing, jointing, cutting, rubbing, waste in stock 1.50 ----- Total $2.25

If the work is tooled, which is preferable for this material, 20 cents per cubic foot should be added. Thus the value in the yard, but ready to set, for an ashlar front, including water-table, sills, lintels, belt courses, all ordinary moldings, and plain cornices, is $2.45 per cubic foot.

Consoles, dentils, panelings, and similar ornamental work, mantels, and interior work have no fixed prices, but must be governed by the estimator’s knowledge of time required to cut any particular kind, sometimes reaching $5 per cubic foot. If moldings are deeply undercut, an extra price will have to be charged.

In heavy work, where the amount of stock is large compared with the amount of dressing, deductions may be made that sometimes amount to as much as 20 per cent. Rock-face work is somewhat more expensive than plain, dressed work because the projecting rock surface requires more stock; therefore, about 10 per cent. should be added.

It is customary to leave stone roughly cut to shape for carving in the wall, and therefore the sculptor determines the value from the drawings and includes the cost of models, which must be approved by the architect before the work is cut. Circular work, if plain, costs about the same as square work, but if fluted or reeded, as in the case of columns, it may cost as much as 50 per cent. additional.

=31.= Compared with limestone, the prices of other soft stones are as follows:

COST OF FOR CUTTING STOCK PER CENT.

Connecticut brownstone $1.25 20 Long Meadow brownstone 1.25 30 Portage red stone 1.05 30 Vermont or Georgia white marble 2.15 50 Pennsylvania blue marble 2.00 50 Bluestone .80 30

No definite price can be given for marble, as it comes in different grades and varieties.

The prices of stock just given are for stones of common size. If extra-large or extra-long stones are required, their price per cubic foot will be greater.

The cost of transportation from the quarries also influences the price of stone. This cost will vary according to the distance of the quarry from the location where the stone is to be used. The cost of hauling stone from the yard and setting it in the wall runs from 40 to 50 cents per cubic foot.

=32. Granite.=—Final estimates of cut granite by the cubic foot are seldom made, although approximate estimates are often made in that way by comparing a proposed piece of work with a similar one already completed. The reason for not making final estimates is that every additional molding or break in granite work affects the cost considerably, differing greatly in this respect from soft stone.

The first note to be made by the estimator is in regard to the cost of material. Good granite, in dimension sizes, can be obtained from southern quarries by rail for 65 cents per cubic foot, delivered. The same expenditure will buy very good eastern granite where through water transportation is available. If, however, the granite specified is such that it must be obtained from eastern quarries having only rail facilities for shipment, an addition of 40 or 50 cents per cubic foot will be required. There are also some special grades of granite that cost $1.50 or more per foot. In shipping granite, the railroads usually allow 8 cubic yards to the car. Granite for monumental purposes costs from $1.25 to $5 per foot, according to the size and quality. At wholesale, the price first mentioned, namely, 65 cents per cubic foot, will buy as good, substantial, and handsome material as will generally be required.

=33.= Machinery is used extensively for cutting plain faces in granite, and also to some extent for moldings and carved work. Every line in granite is costly to cut and must be computed separately. For instance, a plain face 12 inches wide, if cut by machinery, will cost 45 cents per square foot, while if cut by hand, where the machine cannot be applied, it will cost 60 cents. A 2-inch bevel, as shown at _a_, Fig. 3, will cost 50 cents per linear foot additional. A scotia, as shown at _b_, or other molding, as at _c_, will cost 60 cents per linear foot additional for each member.

All returns, no matter how small, must be counted as not less than 1 foot. Circular work costs from 50 to 100 per cent. more than straight work. Flutes or reeds in columns are very expensive, and must be calculated in each case according to the width and depth. All beads and joints should be counted at say 30 cents per square foot. All notches or rabbets are counted separately, according to shape and size.

The preceding prices are based on what is called patent-hammered, six-cut work. Eight-cut work will cost 15 per cent. more, and ten-cut work, which is seldom used in ordinary building work, brings $1 per square foot. Rock-face work in granite is cheaper than hammered work. A good, clean rock face should be counted at 20 cents per square foot. Axed, or peen-hammered, work is between rock face and six cut.

Polishing plain surfaces costs $1 per square foot in addition to the cost of cutting, surfaces having widths of 4 inches and under counting as 6 inches, and those over 6 inches up to 12 inches counting as 1 foot.

BRICKWORK

=34. Brickwork= is generally estimated by the thousand bricks laid in the wall, but measurements by the cubic yard and the perch are also used. The following data will be useful in calculating the number of bricks in a wall. For each superficial, or square, foot of wall 4 inches (the width of one brick) in thickness, allow 7½ bricks; for a 9-inch (the width of two bricks) wall, count 15 bricks; for a 13-inch (the width of three bricks) wall, allow 22½ bricks; and so on, estimating 7½ bricks for each additional 4 inches in thickness of the wall. The preceding figures are for bricks about 8½ in. × 4 in. × 2¼ in. in size. If smaller bricks are used, the thickness of the walls will be decreased proportionately.

If brickwork is estimated by the cubic yard, allow 500 bricks to a yard. This figure is based on the use of bricks of the size just given and mortar joints not over ⅜ inch thick. If the joints are ⅛ inch thick, as in face brickwork, 1 cubic yard will require about 575 bricks. In making calculations of the number of bricks required, an allowance of, say, 5 per cent. should be made for waste in breakage, etc.

The practice in regard to deductions for openings is not uniform throughout the United States, but, usually, small openings are counted solid, as the cost of the extra labor and the waste in working around these places balances that of the brickwork saved. All large openings, 100 square feet or over in area, should be deducted. When openings are measured solid, it is not customary to allow extra compensation for arches, pilasters, corbels, etc.

Rubbed and ornamental brickwork should be measured separately, and charged for at a special rate.

DATA ON BRICKWORK

=35.= The following estimates on the cost of brickwork are very carefully compiled, and will be found trustworthy. It should be understood that the prices will vary with the cost of materials and labor; the proportions, however, will be constant. The figures are based on _kiln_, or actual, count; that is, with deductions for openings. When the work is measured with no deductions for openings, the cost per thousand may be assumed as about 15 per cent. less than the prices given, which are exclusive of scaffolding, hoisting, and builder’s profit. The scaffolding will cost, according to conditions of the structure and site, from 5 to 7 per cent. of the prices given.

COST OF COMMON BRICKWORK PER THOUSAND BRICKS

_Using 1-to-3 Lime Mortar_ 1,000 bricks $8.00 2 bushels of lime, at 25 cents per bushel .50 ½ cubic yard of sand, at $1.50 per cubic yard .75 Bricklayer, 8 hours, at 55 cents per hour 4.40 Laborer, 8 hours, at 25 cents per hour 2.00 ------ Total $15.65

_Using 1-to-3 Portland-Cement Mortar_ 1,000 bricks $8.00 1 barrel of Portland cement 2.00 ½ cubic yard of sand .75 Bricklayer, 8 hours, at 55 cents per hour 4.40 Laborer, 8 hours, at 25 cents per hour 2.00 ------ Total $17.15

_Using 1-to-4 Lime-and-Cement Mortar_ 1,000 bricks $8.00 ¾ bushel of lime, at 25 cents per bushel .19 ½ cubic yard of sand .75 ⅔ barrel of cement, at $2 per barrel 1.34 Bricklayer, 8 hours, at 55 cents per hour 4.40 Laborer, 8 hours, at 25 cents per hour 2.00 ------ Total $16.68

COST OF STRAIGHT, PRESSED BRICKWORK, PER THOUSAND BRICKS

_Using Lime-Putty Mortar_ 1,000 pressed bricks, cost from $20 to $40 (average) $30.00 1½ bushels of lime .38 ¼ cubic yard of fine sand .38 Bricklayer, 27 hours, at 60 cents per hour 16.20 Laborer, 27 hours, at 25 cents per hour 6.75 ------ Total $53.71

ESTIMATING BRICKWORK

=36.= The following figures and method of estimating brickwork were supplied by an estimator of a large eastern contractor. The prices given include office expense and builder’s profit. The wages per hour on which these figures are based are: Bricklayers, 65 cents; hod carriers, 25 cents; and common laborers, 18 cents.

Following are mentioned four distinct classes of brick buildings, and in Table IV are given the labor prices per thousand brick for the various stories of buildings of these classes.

1. Absolutely plain factory buildings.

2. Factory or office buildings broken up with a few pilasters and other projections; stretcher-brick facing, neatly cleaned down and pointed.

3. Office buildings of fairly ornamental type, well broken up with pilasters, projecting courses, etc., with pressed-brick facing.

4. Highly ornamental brick buildings, molded cornices, pilasters, raised quoins, sunk molded panels, and numerous flat and segmental arches.

TABLE IV

LABOR PRICES PER THOUSAND BRICK FOR FOUR CLASSES OF BRICK BUILDINGS

=================+=========+=========+========+========= Part of Building | Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3| Class 4 -----------------+---------+---------+--------+--------- Basement | $ 7.50 | $ 7.50 | $ 8.50 | $ 9.50 First floor | 8.00 | 9.00 | 10.50 | 13.50 Second floor | 8.50 | 10.00 | 11.00 | 14.00 Third floor | 9.00 | 10.50 | 11.50 | 14.50 Fourth floor | 9.50 | 11.00 | 12.00 | 15.00 Fifth floor | 10.00 | 11.50 | 12.50 | 15.50 Sixth floor | 11.00 | 12.00 | 13.00 | 16.00 =================+=========+=========+========+=========

The prices in the table include the cost of mortar. If the cost of brick at building is added, the result will be the total cost of brickwork exclusive of scaffolding. The average price of total brick labor in buildings of class 1 is $8.50; of class 2, $9.50; of class 3, $11.50; and of class 4, $14.

=37.= The following miscellaneous brick prices, including labor and mortar, but not brick, are from the same source as the prices given in the preceding article, and are based on the same condition, the prices being in bricks per thousand:

For heavy basement walls and similar masses of brickwork $ 7.00 For 18-inch brick walls not over two or three stories high, in hard brick with struck joints 8.00 Same as above, but for 13-inch walls 9.00 For 18-inch brick walls, as above, but faced on one side with pressed brick 12.00 For 18-inch brick walls, as above, but faced on both sides with pressed brick 16.50 For 13-inch brick walls, as above, but faced one side with pressed brick 14.00 For 13-inch brick walls, as above, but faced both sides with pressed brick 14.00 Add to above, if of English or Flemish bond, on entire cost of wall .50 If work is broken up into light piers, requiring a lot of plumbing, add to cost of wall as above 1.50 If a large number of segmental arches must be turned, add to total cost of wall 1.00

In addition to the preceding schedule two useful rules to remember are: For pressed-brick segmental arches, add for labor 1½ times the cost of bricks; for pressed-brick arches requiring radial brick, add for labor twice the cost of straight, pressed brick. As radial brick are shipped to the building in barrels and have to be unpacked and laid out on the full-sized diagram on the floor, it will be found that the rate given is not excessive.

For brick vault arches, the cost of labor, exclusive of mortar, will be about $5 per thousand brick. If pointed underneath, 7 cents per square foot will have to be added. If the centers are left in place until the mortar has set, it will be necessary to rake out the joints and wet them before pointing. This will cost about 10 cents per square foot.

TERRA-COTTA WORK

=38. Terra-Cotta Floor Arches.=—The cost of =terra-cotta floor arches= varies somewhat with the span and with the difficulties encountered in putting up and removing the centering. If the building consists of a number of stories, the centering that is used on one floor may be reused on a floor several stories higher up, in this way decreasing the outlay for centerings. For ordinary spans, the following analysis of the cost of a 12-inch arch, exclusive of the cost of the terra cotta itself, will be found quite accurate, provided the centering is put up by experienced laborers. The price given is per square foot of arch.

CENTS Centering 3 Hoisting and laying 3½ Mortar ½ ----- Total 7

This price is for work showing a flat ceiling. If the ceiling is much broken up by girders, the price, exclusive of the terra cotta itself, will be about 8 cents per square foot.

As a price per square foot, including the cost of terra cotta, setting, and mortar, the following figures may be taken. These, however, do not include the cost of plastering, or of any concrete fill above the terra cotta.

CENTS 10-inch arches 23 12-inch arches 25 15-inch arches 29